The morale of the Dazhao generals was greatly boosted, and the armored troops who were originally beating drums in their hearts were no longer afraid and marched forward bravely.
General Nan Yan and Xiao Lin, who were stationed in the rear, looked very ugly when they saw this situation.
"Your Majesty, this is the Iron Armored Army." General Zuo reported.
Ten years ago, the Nanyan Beast Army was defeated by the Iron Armored Army. Therefore, seeing the Iron Armored Army again, there was an instinctive fear.
Xiao Lin snorted: "I want to see how powerful they are."
"Why hasn't the snake arrived yet?" Xiao Lin was furious as he saw the tigers falling down one after another.
After a while, someone came to report that the poisonous snake had arrived.
Xiao Lin's eyes flashed when he heard this, and he immediately gave the order.
One by one, the cowhide drums were transported to the front of the battlefield. When the drums were hammered, venomous snakes crawled out one after another. The snake master blew the whistle and forced the venomous snakes to join the battle.
The poisonous snakes that had been fed with medicine were not afraid of the cold and quickly swam towards the battlefield and attacked the Jokhang soldiers.
The armored army tried their best to stop the killing, but the venomous snakes were small and agile, and they had to deal with tigers, so they were overwhelmed, and most of the venomous snakes swam to the rear.
Seeing the dark venomous snakes coming towards them, spitting out blood-red snake letters, the cavalry and archers were frightened and tried their best to kill them. However, there were too many venomous snakes, and it was inevitable that someone would be bitten.
"Throw brimstone and fire rockets," the general ordered urgently.
The cavalry tried to avoid them, luring and driving the poisonous snakes together. Tuoes of sulfur wrapped in paper were thrown into the group of snakes, and flaming arrows hit the paper package, detonating the sulfur and killing and burning the venomous snakes.
This method is effective, but only minimally so. Because snakes are so flexible, they are difficult to kill, and they can be bitten if you are not careful, making people confused and frightened.
And together with poisonous snakes and tigers, they are even more powerful.
With the beast army charging to clear the way, the Nanyan army, with divine help, followed closely and fought with the Jokhang soldiers. The battle was very fierce.
The armored army can indeed restrain tigers and poisonous snakes, but the number is too small to form an iron wall to stop the poisonous snakes and cannot protect the soldiers at the rear.
Xiao Lin looked at the armored army who was entangled by tigers and cavalry from a distance, and then looked at the panicked Jokhang soldiers in the rear, with a disdainful sneer on his lips.
King Zhaojing, the armored magic weapon, is nothing more than that.
Time passed quietly, and before anyone knew it, the two sides had been fighting for an hour.
Yu Zheng stared at the battlefield and asked, "How long has it been since the poisonous snakes were out?"
Zhuiyun said: "Half an hour."
Half an hour, according to what Zhou Boxu said, the viper can fight for another half hour.
Yu Zheng waited with his hands behind his hands and fists, and saw that the viper seemed to be slowing down.
After a while, the speed slowed down even more obviously.
Upon seeing this, the archers and cavalry cooperated tacitly by throwing paper bags and launching rockets to kill as many poisonous snakes as possible.
The people of Nanyan saw that something was wrong and hurriedly reported back.
After hearing this, Xiao Lin asked angrily: "What's going on?"
The snake master said: "Today's weather is too cold, and the duration of the medicine has been shortened."
After all, it's winter, and snakes are hard to control. Even if they use drugs to control them, time is limited.
After waiting for a while, seeing that Xiao Lin still didn't give the order, the snake master worriedly said: "If we don't recall him again, I'm afraid we will suffer heavy losses."
"Withdraw!" Xiao Lin ordered through gritted teeth.
The snake handler immediately blew his whistle to call back the venomous snake.
General Zuo personally led his men into battle to fill the Viper's vacancy.
Across the fierce battlefield, Xiao Lin looked at the high ground behind the Dazhao soldiers, facing Yu Zheng from a distance.
Yu Zheng also saw Xiao Lin and several beast masters.
As the saying goes, "hit the snake seven inches". If you can get rid of those beast control masters, Nanyan's beast army will be defeated without attacking.
Zhou Bexu noticed Yu Zheng's thoughts, pursed his lips and said: "The beast master is surrounded by layers of guards. He can't get close, and he can't shoot with bows and arrows."
That is Nan Yan's support, so he should protect it carefully.
Yu Zheng sighed secretly, knowing that this method would not work, so he could only think of another way.
He raised his head and glanced at the gloomy sky, then looked into the distance and saw Nanyan dispatching troops for reinforcements. Yu Zheng ordered: "Withdraw!"
They only brought 30,000 men and horses. Even without the beast army, they could not fight against the 100,000-strong army extending to the south. Today was just a trial. Now that it has produced results, there is no need to fight again.
When the battle was in full swing, the Nanyan people were confused when they saw the sudden withdrawal of Da Zhao's troops, and hesitantly asked Xiao Lin whether to pursue the attack.
What are you chasing? The poisonous snake cannot be used again within five days, and there are reinforcements from Dazhao after chasing them. What's the point of fighting for both sides to lose?
Xiao Lin cursed "Idiot", turned around and returned to the camp.
At half past noon, the Dazhao soldiers returned to the military camp, took inventory, and treated their injuries with meals.
Yu Zheng sat in the meeting room and listened to the general's report on the battle situation.
"In this battle, our army suffered 3,000 casualties and 323 dead. Among them, 1,900 were slightly injured, 800 were seriously injured, and 289 were bitten by poisonous snakes. Another number of horses were lost..."
Yu Zheng calmly listened to the report and asked Zhou Boxu: "How does it compare with last time?"
Zhou Bo prefaced: "It's much better."
In the last battle, the number of casualties was twice that of today, and most of them were bitten by poisonous snakes, which was no different from death in battle.
Yu Zheng nodded and asked the general to go ahead and eat, and discuss other matters later.
Jiang Shu waited outside the tent. When he saw the general coming out, he led people inside and put the food on the table to serve with Yu Zheng and Zhou Boxu.
After dinner, Yu Zheng and Zhou Boxu discussed matters with the generals, while Jiang Shu went to the rear affairs camp.
It was the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the day after tomorrow was New Year's Eve. Zhang Wei and Jiang Shu were discussing New Year arrangements.
The food in the army is simple, but every new year, the food will be appropriately improved.
"According to the usual practice in previous years, we start adding dishes on New Year's Eve, two dishes and one soup. But this year the situation is severe and food and wages are insufficient. In addition, the number of people has increased, making it difficult to achieve." Zhang Wei looked embarrassed.
After hearing this, Jiang Shu pondered and asked, "Are there enough food sources in Yicheng?"
120,000 people can get a lot of meat and vegetables with Western food.
Zhang Weidao said: "Yicheng is not rich, and the people raise poultry and livestock, and cultivate land and vegetables. If there is enough money, the source of vegetables will not be a problem."
Jiang Shu asked again: "Will there be enough time for purchasing?"
Zhang Wei thought about it and said: "As long as you have enough money, you can purchase a batch tomorrow and the rest the next day."
But the key problem is that there is not enough money.
Zhang Wei sighed sadly and wanted to suggest subtracting the expensive dish of soy sauce beef.
But before he opened his mouth, Jiang Shu said, "I'll make up for the shortfall."
When soldiers go into battle to kill the enemy, they are risking their lives, and they should not be treated badly. Besides, people died in every battle, and no one knew whether they would survive until the next New Year.
For many people, this is the last time to celebrate the New Year, and the last time to add dishes, how can they be disappointed.
"What are you doing in a daze? Figure it out quickly." Jiang Shu reminded the distracted Zhang Wei.
"Yes..." Zhang Wei hurriedly came to his senses and took the abacus to calculate.
In order to avoid miscalculation, Zhang Wei calculated it twice before saying seriously: "My official estimate is that there is still a shortfall of 80,000 taels."
After hearing this, Jiang Shu said without hesitation: "You can follow me to the general's mansion later to get the banknotes. If there is any fruit wine, I can buy some more. Don't worry about the money."
Zhang Wei was surprised when he heard this and was stunned for a moment before he responded.
Eighty thousand taels, not eighty taels or eight hundred taels, Jiang Shu didn't hesitate at all.
Finally thinking about Jiang Shu's identity, Zhang Wei figured it out again.
For ordinary people, 80,000 taels is a huge fortune that cannot be accumulated in a few lifetimes, but for Jiang Ji Shaodong's family, it is just a wave of the hand.
